U.S. Hit with More Than 5,000 Attacks Every Hour

Think your business is immune from the threat of Internet-based attacks? Norse’s hacking map may have you thinking otherwise.

The live map, which you can view here, details ongoing cyber attacks from around the world. The map shows the countries from which most attacks originate and the countries that experience the most attacks as well as the most common vectors for attacks (HTTP, SSH, or SQL injection, e.g.).

The United States sits firmly at the top of the list as the biggest target for would-be cyberattackers—regularly tallying more than 5,000 attacks per hour—and the numbers climb at an exponential rate above Hong Kong, Thailand, Canada and Portugal, the next most common targets for cyber attacks. Watch the attacks roll in (the map displays them as colorful asteroids) for a few hours, and it’s clear the United States is getting hammered. Hotspots like Seattle, the Silicon Valley, New York and Chicago emerge as regular targets, but be warned, Kansas Citians—there’s a spot for our city on this map, too.

On the attacking side, it’s perhaps not surprising that most attacks are originating from China. What is surprising, however, is how many attacks originate in the United States—there are so many attacks originating on our home soil that China and the United States appear to be in a constant battle for top position on the ranks of attack origins.

Perhaps most frightening is the fact that the Norse map offers just a small sampling of current cyber attacks. The Norse map relies on a honeypot network, which is purposefully designed to detect hacking, and the real number of attacks is much higher. According to Business Insider, locations within the state of Utah see more than 20 million attacks per day, and the Pentagon sees as many as 10 million hacking attempts per day.